— GAteway Games—

Over the last decade, board games have undergone a renascence. Their surge in popularity is from light-weight games that are both easy to learn and include a lot of strategic depth. These are your "gateway" games, and this list includes all of our light-strategy games as well. These games are often mainstream enough to be found at local big box stores for distribution, rather than just being at local hobby stores you should support like Geek World and Ground Zero Comics. No matter the theme or type of game you want to play, there will be something great here for you.

OUR FAVORITES

7 Wonders - Build a civilization around a great wonder of the world across three ages, by carefully selecting what sorts of buildings you want to make up your city. But! Everything you don't choose will be open to your opponents in this card drafting game, so choose wisely. 45 minutes. 2-7 players.

King of Tokyo - Because of reasons, totally-not-ripoff versions of monsters are terrorizing Tokyo! You control monsters like The King or Gigazaur in an attempt to do the most damage to the city OR be the last monster standing. Upgrade your monster by growing an extra head, developing camouflage, or getting a shrink ray in this dice manipulation game. 30 minutes. 2-6 players.

Pandemic - Four diseases are causing outbreaks of diseases across the world. You are a group of scientists who are doing your best to manage the spread while the cures are developed. Will your team be able to save the world before being overwhelmed by disaster in this cooperative game? 45 minutes. 2-4 players.

Ticket to Ride - At the turn of the (last) century, you are tasked with connecting the largest cities in the country by collecting tickets which you can use to build routes. Everyone has hidden objectives to connect specific cities allowing for lots of risk and reward as this set collecting game develops. 60 minutes. 2-5 players.

LIGHT STRATEGY

Great games that are easy to teach, but might not be the best introduction for a first-timer.